Family Secrets
by Twitter Chan and Psycho Chan
Summary: Everyone his a dark secret, rather its simple like a ticklish spot or a liking for something weird, or something not as simple. The Stone family have a sick secret, which they have kept from society for decades.
1. Tina In The Park

Summary: Everyone his a dark secret, rather its simple like a ticklish spot or a liking for something weird, or something not as simple. The Stone family have a sick secret, which they have kept from society for decades. As unhappy as HotStreak is with that secret, he does have something that keeps him alive, a little girl named Tina.

Psycho Chan's Note: I really don't have much of a flow for this story. To be honest, I'm pulling the idea out of my ass. Twitter Chan and I have a story history with everyone that may get tweaked a bit with each story. Which is why in all stories Francis's father is a complete bastard who everyone hates, it's just the history we gave him. This is another one which goes into depth at the kind of person his mother really is. She's motherly and at the same time, not.

Disclaimer/Claimer: I don't own Static Shock or it's characters. I'm just using them for my own sick desires and I love myself for it. I do own Diana and Tina though. I'm not sure if Jay's gonna get involved but if he does I own him too.

Tina in the Park

It had been a long week for the hero. A really long week. Virgil shouldn't have to deal with this kind of stuff. Here he is, at sixteen, and still, he has not girlfriend and still gets his ass handed to him on a daily basis. Luckily, RubberBandMan and Gear had told him he could take a break after messing up on an attempt to lock up Ebon. That was epic failure on Static's behalf. He had mistakenly fallen asleep on the job, letting the shadow man run past him. Shortly after, Talon and Shiv were free along with Ferret, Kangorr, Puff and CarmenDillo. Now they have to lock them up again.

But at the moment, that was Gear's job. Not his. Happily, Virgil plops himself on a park bench, sinking lazily. It was a great day. Sunny and no clouds. Perfect lounging weather to do absolutely nothing in. He's sleep but he could do that all night. The park was full of people. Everywhere, people. It felt great to be among them. "This is how it's suppose to be…" Virgil mutters to himself. "Not chasing bad guys around playing hide and seek."

Sitting around felt awesome to the hero. He could feel his muscles relaxing for the first time in a long time. His father was relieved to hear that Static was taking a break, since Robert found out about Virgil, he had been worried sick. Worried that his son wouldn't come home one night. Now he could sleep. For a while that his.

A faint giggle catches his attention. Opening his eyes, Virgil cocks his head enough to see a little girl sitting next to him, looking up at him with large green eyes. "Hi." The girl smiles.

"Uhhhh…" The hero on vacation looks around, wondering if her parents were around. "Hello…" He spoke distracted, searching. "Where are your parents?"

"I donno." The blonde girl shrugs, kicking her feet freely from the bench. The girl wore a light blue tang top with blue jeans. Her blue flip flops hung loosely from her swaying feet, her long blonde hair trailing down her backside. "I came here alone cuz Mommy and Daddy were fighting again. Then Grandpa game home and started hitting Mommy so I ran." The girl's smile doesn't fade a bit, as if this were normal to her. "Daddy'll pick me up soon."

Virgil stares at the girl. Everything in her explanation, no matter how cutely it was said, was wrong. "Wait, you get abused?" For some reason, he had to make sure. Didn't sound right, but he guesses the smile was just off putting his judgment.

"Abused?" The girl looks up again, in confusion.

"Hit. You said you get hit."

"Oh." The confusion flickers away. "Not all the time. Daddy protects me." That smile seems to widen. "I like Daddy."

"What about your Mom?" That stung a bit. The girl had a mother, he didn't. As immature as that sounded, it still hurt deep inside.

"Mommy isn't as nice as my daddy." The girl gets up, getting sad. "She makes Daddy do things he doesn't like to do." Feeling uncomfortable, the girl turns away.

"Whoa, hand on." Virgil follows her. "You can't wonder around alone all day. That isn't safe."

"You wanna play then?" The blonde youth smiles again.

Defeated, Virgil nods. "Okay." Surely, saving the city is just as important as helping a little girl for a while. "By the way, I'm Virgil." He introduces himself in hopes of getting the girl's name.

"I'm Tina." Tina grasps Virgil's blue jeans. "I'm almost six years old." She states proudly. "How old are you?"

With his own smile, Virgil follows Tina onto the grass of the park. "I'm sixteen."

"Wow!" Tina is amazed by this. "That's old!"

Virgil laughs at this. Really, he did, feeling a bit old even. "I suppose I am."

As Tina walks, she looks into the grass. "I love grass. It's my favorite color." She laughs rather pointlessly. Virgil was just amused at how simply random this girl was. She was surprisingly happy from a girl in an abusive home.

Tina flops down onto the freshly cut grass without a problem, where as in Virgil had to slouch down to even get close enough to swing his feet below his body. "How long do you think before your dad picks you up?" As adorably fun as this was, he didn't want to hang out with some strange girl for the whole day.

"I donno. It's usually dark before he leaves home."

So much for getting home before dark.

"You're not afraid of the dark?" Virgil remembered being afraid of the dark as a child. His mother showed him that there was nothing to be afraid of, but it didn't look like anyone in her family would do that.

"Nope." Tine plucks grass with the most fascinating look in her large eyes. "Uncle Ebon showed me that the dark is nothin' to be scared of." That struck Virgil as beyond weird. It was fucked up in fact.

"_Uncle_…Ebon?"

"Uncle Ebon. His name is Ivan but he goes by Ebon. He's really nice and helps me when Daddy is in the hospital."

"Hold up…_Ebon _Ebon? Shadowy guy who's metahuman and wants to take over Dakota? _That _Ebon?"

"Yup."

Virgil needed a moment to absorb this bit of information. Really. Ebon being _kind_. And with a child? _Really?!_ That was just fucked up, and he's gonna have to check with Adam if his brother is good with kids. Ebon seemed…screw that. He's just violent. Just that. "Wait, hospital?"

"Daddy goes to the hospital a lot too when he's not in jail. Sometimes people take him away and he's all bloody. I don't like that but Mommy and Grandpa tell me that he brought it on himself…"

Virgil was extremely worried now, but there was nothing he could do only knowing the girl's first name. "Your dad should go to the police about th-"

"Tina." Another's voice from behind catches Virgil's attention. A panting, raspy voice actually. "Mom's lookin' for you. We need to go home." HotStreak. Virgil saw HotStreak.

"Is it okay? Is Mommy okay?" The young blonde asks, obviously concerned.

Virgil, obviously, was confused. He stood up, gaining the other man's attention.

"Hawkins?" Francis didn't like this.

"She came up to me and I didn't want her to be alone so I hung around…" Virgil quickly defended himself, still afraid as long as he wasn't in uniform.

"Virgil was really nice to me." Tina jumps up, running over to Francis, clinging to his leg. "I like him bunches." Her smile widens, showing white teeth.

Feeling grateful yet resenting it, HotStreak's green eyes gaze over in Virgil's direction. "Thanks for watchin' her Virg."

"It was no problem." Hell, he was just surprised that Francis was acting civil. "This isn't my business but she said some things that I…I'm just wondering…why don't you just…call the police? Tina is scared…that isn't the place for her…or you." Though Virgil had to admit that it explained why F-Stop was such a nasty person in high school.

"Well," HotStreak assumes that Tina had only mention Diana. "She's our mother…no matter what she's family. You can't turn your back on family."

Virgil didn't know that Francis had any siblings, well, there was Jenna but she died years ago. She was on the news for quite a while. "But she shouldn't be abusing her children."

"She doesn't abuse us. My father does, Mother just needs things her way."

"She lets him just beat her kids? You're his kids too…" Virgil was just confused, looking down to see Tina nuzzling Francis's black jeans.

"He beat me cuz I'm his kid. Tina isn't his."

"Oh." This was weird. What was also weird was that Virgil and Francis were just talking. _Talking_. Guess time settled the man down a bit. "Well, I wouldn't really recommend it but…I think you should get your sister out of there." Virgil was at a loss. Francis was eighteen now and it sounded like he is stuck at home to protect Tina from her own family.

"She ain't my sister." HotStreak hoists the girl into the air, setting her on his hip. "Lets' go Tina."

Before Virgil can even place a question for his absolute confusion, Tina rests her head on HotStreak's shoulder, wrapping her arms round his neck. Then everything was explained in a sleepy yawn from Tina.

"Okay Daddy."


	2. It Makes Us Different

Psycho Chan's Note: I thought of an idea for a chapter. I'm not sure if I'm gonna have Francis and Virgil end up together or not yet. I'm torn. I love romances and stuff but friendship is good too…I mean…I donno…Guess whatever happens happens seeing as I don't ever have much control of what happens in my stories. Opinions would be appreciated.

It Makes Us Different

The fight hadn't been that bad. Francis's mother left town for the night and Jay has yet to come home. The red head was relived. Being punched around by his father wasn't any better than being smacked by his mother. Right now however was perfect.

"Daddy, did you know the man in the park?" Tina's voice interrupts the silence. The girl had been curious but had fallen asleep on the walk home and after a short nap had wondered downstairs to see Francis cooking dinner.

Taking a moment to finish chopping thawed hotdogs, the red head answers. "Sorta…I knew him from school." Sometimes, he forgets he's talking to a six year old girl.

"School?" Tina looks up from her coloring book, which she was coloring in crayon on the kitchen table.

"Yeah…school…we had a few problems…" Francis tries to think of way to explain. He beat the little twerp in school, but he didn't want to tell his little girl that. "We never really got along."

"Oh…" Picking up a pink crayon, the blonde colors in the bunny in her book. "He was really nice to me." The delighted girl continues her rough coloring.

"Yeah…that don't surprise me." Francis slaps some butter in a frying pan, the yellow blob sizzling and crackling as he pushes the melting grease around with a spatula. "He was always good hearted. Even if it was annoyin'" the man stirs the boiling water in the pot next to the frying pan, making sure the noodles don't stick and burn.

"'Annoyin'?" Tina looks up again. "How is it 'annoyin' Daddy?" Large green eyes examine the broad shoulders of the adult, watching him dump the bowl of cut hotdogs into the buttered frying pan.

"Well…" Francis thinks. He couldn't remember why exactly it was annoying. It just was. "I guess it was because it was always against me."

"Against you?" Tina always asked questions.

"Yeah…uh…" Francis was running out of ways to answer. The last thing he wanted was for his baby girl to learn that he was just like his parents. Abusive and violent. "Hey, why don't you color a picture for me Tina. I'll even hang it up in my room."

Tina quickly sets down the pink crayon, paging through her coloring book of animals. "Okay Daddy!" Francis was relieved. He finishes up sautéing the hotdogs, turning off the burner he was using for them. "Does Daddy want a puppy or a kitty cat?" the girl asks, wanting her father's approval.

Draining the noodles, Francis replies "how about a kitty cat?"

"Okay." As Tina searches for a green crayon in her box, her father pours the noodles back into the pan, adding an open can of cream of mushroom soup. "I'll make Daddy a green kitty cat!" Tina giggles to herself, setting out to color herself a green cat. Francis smiles to himself as he stirs the noodles, adding the hotdogs. It was days like this that made Francis glad he didn't just rid the world of himself. That blonde little girl was the whole world to him. He admits when he first heard his mother was pregnant he wanted the thing dead. He wanted his mother dead as well. Becoming a father at almost thirteen wasn't something to be proud of, especially when the woman carrying your kid was you own mother. Francis sure as hell won't forget the night he found out either. His father had just burst into his room, dead of the night, and started to beat the shit out of him. Screaming a bunch of things that just didn't make sense when you are startled awake. His father was really pissed off because of the way he just took his son. No mercy or leniency for his son. Especially because the older man knew that Francis didn't just decide to sleep with his wife. He was full aware that it wasn't his fault. Apparently it didn't matter.

"Dinners almost done so you should pick up your crayons Tina." Francis informs, turning the burner down to keep the food warm. He reaches into the cupboard, taking hold of two bowls. He could hear his little girl hop down to the floor, running upstairs to her room, where her stuff belongs. The red head scoops some of the casserole into each bowl. By the time he grabs two forks and sits down, Tina runs back downstairs, jumping up onto a chair.

"Thank you Daddy!" The girl happily shouts, taking the fork next to her bowl and eating the food her father had made. She's figured out over the years that her grandfather and father were good cooks. Her mother on the other hand…was not.

Checking the time, Francis takes note that his father would be home soon. "Tina," he speaks softly, catching the attention of his daughter. "Let's keep Virgil a secret. Just between us." He has a lot of secrets with the girl. Most of them being the very fact that he takes her out of the house when he's not suppose to. Didn't matter where. Rather it was Burger Fool, the mall, to Uncle Ebon's or even just to the park. And it did not bother Francis one bit that if he were caught his punishment was for his skull to be bashed in. In his opinion, it was worth it. Always.

"Okay Daddy." The girl was talkative, and spoke the wrong things at the wrong time with strangers, but not with those who she lives with. In truth, her grandfather scared her and her mother wasn't as nice as the mothers' she sees on TV or outside.

"God Damn it." Another's voice breaks the silence, followed by a door slamming. "People are idiots…" The grumbling continues. Worry flickers in both pairs of eyes in the kitchen. Then the older man walks into the room. "Guess Diana isn't home…"

"No…she called…she won't be home until tomorrow night." Francis informs, eating quickly, which Tina also does.

"Mmm…" Jay grabs his own bowl, fishing out some of the noodles, then proceeding to avoid his family. The long haired man leans on the counter as he eats. "That all she say?" Jay was in a good mood today, despite the scowl he wore.

"Well…she mentioned something about possibly goin' outta town but…she didn't go into detail."

"You ask fer them details?"

"Yeah. She told me to shove off and that I should stop actin' like you." Francis finishes eating, getting up to rinse out his bowl. Luckily, he wasn't that hungry.

"The bitch…" The man chuckles through his statement, flicking his hair back. "Guess I'll have to talk to her again about the shit she pulls."

Waiting for Tina to finish her own bowl, Francis continues his chat. "Just remember not to mess up her face or she'll be out of a job. Then you'll have to deal with her everyday."

"Ugh…yer right." Jay's green eyes flicker in amusement. "Can't have that now can we?"

With a chuckle, Francis takes Tina's bowl, rinsing it for her. "You sure can't, that's for sure."

"Yeah…got me there." Handing his son his bowl, Jay leaves the kitchen to do what ever it is he does. Even after eighteen years, Francis has no clue what that is exactly. After rinsing the bowl and putting away dinner, the red head turns to his daughter, who had been waiting patiently for him. "Let's get you into bed then little girl."

With a smile, Tina jumps off the chair, running up the stairs making a lot of noise as she does so. Following the girl, Francis heads for her room, which was rather empty. She used her imagination more than toys, it was better that way. Tina jumped into her bed, which had light green sheets and a dark green comforter. Francis walks in, shutting the door. "Will Daddy tuck me in?"

"I'm really tired and-"

"Please?" Tina asks through a smile and white teeth, green eyes pleading as she does so.

"Okay." Francis was defeated by that expression every time. "Should change into pajamas first though. Just because I sleep in my clothes don't mean you can." With a nod, Tina jumps off the bed, running to her dresser, pulling the top dresser drawer with effort. After a few moments, she changes into pajamas, light pink pans and a white t-shirt that hang loosely on her.

She crawls into bed, underneath the covers that Francis already had tugged off while she was changing. "Alright, I'll be gone when you wake up tomorrow Tina." Francis sits on the bed. "Jay has some people lined up for me to see…I'll be busy pretty much all day. I'll leave you breakfast so you don't have to leave your room again." He shouldn't have to keep her in this room but it was the only way to keep her safe. Jay never bothered to go into bedrooms. He hated them, probably because the house they live in was also the house Jay grew up in. And he had his fair share of memories of his own father. "I want you to stay in here all day. I'll come see you before you go to bed. Understand?"

The girl nods, unaware that her eyes were clouded with worry.

"Good." Just as the green eyed man gets to his feet, is forced to stop. It was more of a hesitate.

"Daddy…what does 'abuse' mean?" Francis froze for a moment.

"Where did you hear that?" He had been hoping he never had to have this talk with her.

Tina looks up to him, even though he has yet to face her. "The man in the park asked if I was 'abused'…" What he said and how he reacted bothered the girl, even though she didn't fully understand why.

Sitting back down on the bed, Francis sighs. "Abuse…it…it means…" He wasn't sure where he was suppose to start. "It's when one person harms another person…"

"Like when Grandpa Jay hits you and Mommy?"

"It's exactly like that." Francis sighs, finally able to face his daughter.

"It makes us bad…doesn't it?" Large green eyes fill with tears. Tina watches TV with Shiv whenever she's at Ebon's place. Mothers and Fathers were always nice to their children. Always loving. Always giving hugs and kisses and going out to places. She knew that her family was different, and that it may even be a bad family.

"It makes us different." The older man corrects, laying down in the small bed.

"Different?" The girl yawns.

"Yeah…" The red head pulls the green blanket over himself, pulling Tina into his arms, tears managing to even fill his own green eyes. "It makes us different."


	3. Second Family

Psycho Chan's Words: Hello! I've been a bit frustrated lately…we tried to update some stories the other day but FanFiction didn't like that idea apparently so we waited. We figured out the site had problems only now…we're miles away from a computer with internet. I'm not sure about his story but it's up and I shouldn't just abandon it. I could never do that. Even if I want to cut off my hands for typing some of them up. And believe me…I do…I do…

Second Family

"_I don't care about what you were doin'! You should have been there to stop that little bitch from leavin' the damn house!"_

"_I didn't know she left! I was lookin' for her and-"_

"_I told you to keep your fuckin' eye on her! She wonders around like every other damn woman on this fuckin' planet. If you just locked her in that damn room I wouldn't have this problem!"_

"_She's a person! She shouldn't be caged like a fuckin' animal!"_

"_She ain't a person boy! The little harlot is a bastard kid who shouldn't have even been born but she was because my fuckin' wife had to fuck my fuckin' son!"_

"_Like you're one ta talk about that shit. You fuck around more than I do and I don't even get a say in the fuckin' matter!"_

Little Tina Stone sits in the corner of her room, waiting, listening. She woke up to her parents arguing. All of them. She knew her father was her brother though she didn't fully understand it. She was confused. All she knew was that her father was in trouble and her grandfather was irate. Not wanting to anger them further, the blonde had made her bed and put on clean clothes, that being a simple green tank top and blue jeans.

"_Don't pull that shit Francis! I know damn well that you still fuck around on yer own accord! You can't keep your legs together any better than any other woman in this forsaken city!"_

"_I'd rather be a slut than a fuckin' prostitute! I just want to leave this fuckin' place!"_

"_I ain't stopping you! Oh, wait, that little cunt upstairs is!"_

"_Leave her out of this! It wasn't her fault she left! If I could leave during an argument I would too!"_

"_You'd be able to if you weren't the cause of every fuckin' fight in this house! Somehow you're always involved and if you ain't, you git involved!"_

"_That's cuz you bring in Tina! She's my daughter!"_

"_No! She's your good fer nothing sister!"_

Memories and thoughts of TV raced through her mind. On TV, parents always got along. Always showed their love for their children and each other. Rarely raising their voices or shouting. Never raising a hand or striking anther person. When she was younger, the blonde thought that she had a broken family. Her father loved her and she thought that her mother did to. She knew that her grandfather hated her. He had told her so over and over. The man had called her names to her face and behind her back. Words that he calls her mother and words she had never heard before. Words that the girl knew were bad and knew she should never repeat or even wanted to know what they meant.

"_She's my daughter rather you like it or not. You can't change it so quite tryin' to."_

"_I ain't tryin' to. If I were, she'd be long dead by now! I should have killed you when I had the chance. I've let so many of them pass by over the years, thinkin' that you'd learn yer fuckin' lesson sooner or later. But no! Here you are, eighteen years later, still fuckin' up!"_

"_I'm not fuckin' up! I make mistakes, yes, but I've been listenin' to you for the past ten years! And look at where it's gotten me!"_

"_I didn't tell you to fuck your mother and-"_

"_I didn't fuck Diana and you know it!"_

Now that she was a little older and knew better, she knew that she did not have a broken family. She learned that broken families still love each other, still fight to stay together. Like Uncle Ebon. She learned that that man's mother had abandoned them and that his father died, leaving him to take care of his brother. He may not have showed the love, but protecting him and watching over him was enough. Ebon had a broken family. What she had was not a broken family.

"_Do you honestly expect me to believe that a woman raped you?"_

"_Do you honestly think that I would get in bed with my own mother?"_

"_You've done it before."_

"_I never had a say in it even as a child! It's the same damn thing with you!"_

By this time, Tina wasn't even sure what she had. She wasn't sure what her mother really was to her because of what she does to Francis and she knew not to even bother with Jay. He was much worse. He ruined everything he touched. All the blonde had was Francis. He was the only one who really cared for her. Sometimes, Diana would say she cared. Say she loved her. Say things that were nothing but lies and empty promises. She just wanted to hurt her. Tina knew this.

"_You have no right to have children. In this life time or any other!"_

"Oh! You're one to talk Jay! You're much worse than I am! Not only do you fuck your own kid but you sell me too! I've been doin' things I shouldn't have been as a kid and you know it!"

"_This entire world is corrupt and cruel. Some just learn that at an early age while others go on through the world, oblivious until it catches up to them!"_

"_Like it did with your own mother!?"_

"_What!?"_

Holding her knees, Tina waits for the arguing to stop. They were fighting downstairs. The three of them. Tina couldn't help but cry silently, she was the cause of this. She knew this as well. Jay was getting on Francis because he had let her out of the house. Let her wonder around the city by herself. Angry because he knew it was just a matter of time before she would say something to the wrong person.

"_Marring Elliot…what a dumb move. Your mother knew exactly what kind of a man he was but she stayed with him anyway! Because she was a fuckin' moron who believed she could see the heart in that man. See the good in her rapist!"_

"_Shut the fuck up Francis! Just shut it!"_

"_When are gonna realize that you are just like your own father!?"_

That's when the shouting stopped.

Francis was getting hit and she was upstairs crying. If she were to go down there, she too would be getting punished and then her father would be dragged down to the basement again. And every time he went down there…

A startled gasp escapes the blonde as her door opens slowly. Francis was hunched forward, holding a gash on his shoulder while blood quickly soaked his black wife beater. Tina could see the pained expression her father was trying to hold in as he walked in, shutting the door. "Hey baby girl." He nearly wheezed out.

"D-Daddy?" Tina got up quickly, running to the older man. "Are you okay!?"

"Shhh…shh…" Francis lifts the girl, setting her on the bed she poorly made. "Daddy's gonna take you outta here for a while…" Resting his knees onto the floor, settling in front of the girl, Francis releases his daughter, taking a quick note of the large hand print of blood on the light green clothe.

"Where?" Tina asks, more than happy to get out of this place that she can't find a place for. It sure wasn't a place to call home.

"How about Uncle Ebon's place?" The red head can't help but feel happy at the smile on his little girl's face. "He won't mind if we drop by for a while." Truth was, since the fall of the Meta Breed, Ebon and HotStreak had gotten along better. There wasn't a power struggle or arguments, Francis was sick of those. In fact, he and Ivan have been good friends, and the shadow knows of Francis's family life. He's also met Jay, once and only once.

"Are we spending the night?" Tina wanted to leave, and leave for good.

"Well…you are." Green eyes flick downward.

"What…do you mean Daddy?"

"I've gotta come back home…make sure Jay doesn't hurt Diana." There was another reason that scared the man. They will call the police if they find out that he had taken Tina to someone's house. Last time Francis was almost tried for kidnapping a minor. The charges were dropped though. He was sure that that wouldn't happen again. Not with Jay as a father.

"But…" The girl starts.

"Tina…" Francis tugs at the girl's shoes. "You've got your shoes on the wrong feet." The red head switches the white tennis shoes onto the correct feet, tying the shoelaces snuggly. "Need anything?" Francis forgot he was talking to a little girl.

"Like what?" was asked slowly, confused.

Realizing that she didn't have anything anyway, the man gets up, lifting the blonde and resting her on his hip. "Never mind Tina. We're goin'." Ignoring the pain in his chest, back and shoulders, Francis leaves the room, heading down the stairs. He ignored his parents arguing in the other room, he knew he'd have to come back soon or he could lose Tina to the city.

"Is Mommy going to be okay?" Tina asks as the door is shut behind them. She may not have liked Diana like she did Francis but she cared for her mother. And she would always care.

"She will be. I'll make sure of it."

The red head opens the passenger door to his truck, placing the little blonde in the seat. After buckling her up, he closes the door, looking up at the house. One day, he'll never have to look at that building again. He hoped he didn't anyway. Now that he thought about it, Jay probably said the same thing. He grew up in that house and when Elliot left, Jay stayed. Francis was positive that Jay plans on giving the house to his only son when he chooses to leave Dakota as well. Maybe then it'll be okay.

Shaking his head, the green eyed man jumps into his seat, starting the truck and leaving in a hurry. Tina was quiet the entire ride, something that Francis was both thankful for and hated. Tina was never a quiet girl. She loved asking questions and talking for the sake of approval. She needed it as much as her father did. Francis couldn't help but think about what he was suppose to do. He was going to drop his daughter off at Ebon's house for a few days and then what? Bring her back? Most likely. Jay will be cooled off and Diana will hopefully be out of town for something. It didn't really matter what Diana was doing. It was Jay that Francis worried about. He held all the power.

The pain in Francis's body didn't go away. It began to burn and throb with every movement. The man wasn't sure if the bleeding stopped but he wasn't going to check that out with his daughter less then two feet away from him. So he ignored the feeling. Ignored everything around him, hoping that Tina didn't ask him something because he wasn't sure that he would even hear her.

Finally on the other end of Dakota Fields, Francis pulls into a long dirt driveway. Ebon hated the city, so he found a place just on the outskirts of town. It was for the best.

"Okay Tina, I'll bring you in but I really gotta go." The man looks at his daughter, dreading the fact that he had to leave her for so long but knew Ebon would take care of her. Good care.

Francis left the truck running as he got out, helping Tina out of the seat. He carries her to the front door, knocking on it, knowing that Ivan had removed the batteries to the door bell shortly after Shiv discovered that it worked.

After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a rather scrawny man in a red robe. "HotStreak? What brings you…" The smile faded on his face upon seeing the reason. "Oh…uh, hang on dude." The man opens the door. "Yo Ebon! HotStreak's here with Tina!"

Francis walks into the cooler house, waiting to see his friend. Shiv was great and all, but he wasn't on the same level as his lover. "Why the hell are they here now?" The shadow steps in from the other room to see the condition of the two in question. "I see…"

"I've gotta go…I was hopin' you'd take her while I calm Jay down…" Francis looks to the endless eyes of the shadow. A long time ago Francis hated them. They showed little emotion and always seemed to be sucking out your soul. Judging you. Now they were softer, most likely Shiv's doing.

"No problem. Do what you gotta do." Ebon can't help but glance at the blood on the red head, as did Shiv. Blood soaked shirt, black eye, split lip and bruises damn near everywhere the eye could see. "How long?"

"Couple days." HotStreak replies, setting the girl down. "Tina, I need you to be a big girl and behave for Uncle Ebon and Auntie Shiv." That started as a joke a year ago. Now the girl really does call Shiv her aunt, and it doesn't bother the man. Actually, it seemed like Scott liked the idea.

"But-"

"No buts Tina. I've gotta go and you mush stay here. I'll be fine and so will your mother…just trust me." Francis has never purposely left the girl before. Being jailed while he thought she was somewhere else was different. That was back in the years he didn't care for the girl because she caused him problems. But when she had asked him if he had loved her he broke down. The thought that he had grown up with no love from his parents was hard for him to deal with when everyone else's parents loved them…he was also robbing this girl of love. Robbing a girl that was his responsibility…his own daughter…sister…didn't matter.

"Okay Daddy…" Tina wraps her thin little arms around her father, hugging him as tightly as she could. "I'll be a big girl…"


End file.
